The Gender Politics of Hair Removal

In a recent piece, the ever-entertaining Daily Mail discussed the on-the-rise trend of chest-hair removal among men, from Daniel Craig to the Chelsea Football Club. "Having a smooth chest makes me feel younger," says one guy. "It gives me more confidence. Yes, it's painful, but the results make up for that." All I can think is that you don't just look younger, you look prepubescent.

One of my earliest childhood crushes was the delightfully furry Sean Connery, so that may explain a lot. But Connery fetish aside, I just can't get into this look. Trouble is, once you scratch the surface of hair removal, you quickly get into some messy feminist territory. Asking if it's manly to wax your chest is the flip side of questioning whether women who don't go for Brazilians are unfeminine. It ties our sexual identities to a grooming choice that should really be all about a very personal preference. My first reaction to a guy who shaves his chest may be "gross," but if a man ever told me how to shave or wax, I'd raise Third Wave hell. For me, hair removal has never been about how it makes me look, just how it makes me feel.

So in this case, I freely own up to my double standards. I hope women and men always have the confidence to do what they like with their bodies. But in the meantime, I'll be over here, watching a lot of old James Bond films.